January 14, 2006

Fifty Miles of Elbow Room

I'm listening again to the original Carter Family's final, brilliant sessions of 1940 and 1941. It turns out they recorded "Fifty Miles of Elbow Room," which I mostly know from Harry Smith's Anthology, performed in 1930 by Rev. Ford Washington McGee and his congregation. It's currently also available at the great music blog Long Sought Home.

I never understood the song before because of the chaotic revival meeting atmosphere created by McGee and company, which makes the lyrics pretty impossible to decipher. I mean, what ABOUT fifty miles of elbow room?

Well, focusing on the version by Sara and Maybelle Carter — with all the loving orderliness and earnest precision we've come to expect from them — the words are easy to figure out.

It turns out the song has pretty much the same theme, or belongs to the same gospel tradition, as the Tom Waits song "Down There by the Train," which was recorded by Johnny Cash on his first American Recordings album. In this tradition, the purpose and the power of the song are in the limitless, extreme, radical inclusiveness of salvation.

Maybe a kind reader can help out this old Catholic-atheist with the terminology and a Biblical passage ... in any case, these songs insist that your station in life doesn't matter, your race or gender don't matter, and not even the gravity of your sins matter — NOTHING can keep you from living in paradise, so long as you repent, so long as you meet us "down there by the train."

The emotional power of these songs is in the radical character of the forgiveness they promise. They are all about the total and extreme nature of the idea that heaven is open to ANYBODY. There's so much room for absolutely everybody in Heaven that its gates are a hundred miles wide — entering Heaven, you have fifty miles of elbow room.

If you're in need of a reminder that there's something good in Christianity, turn off your TV and spin some old 78's.

FIFTY MILES OF ELBOW ROOM

Twelve hundred miles its length and breadthThe four-square city standsIts gem-set walls of jasper shineNot made with human handsOne hundred miles its gates are wideAbundant entrance thereWith fifty miles of elbow roomOn either side to spare

Chorus:When the gates swing wide on the other sideJust beyond the sunset seaThere'll be room to spare as we enter thereRoom for you and room for meFor the gates are wide on the other side Where the flowers ever bloomOn the right hand on the left handFifty miles of elbow room

Sometimes I'm cramped and crowded here And long for elbow roomI want to reach for altitudeWhere fairer flowers bloomIt won't be long til I shall passInto that city fairWith fifty miles of elbow roomOn either side to spare

Chorus

[ Recorded by the Carters, October 14, 1941 in New York, NY ]

I insist that Tom Waits' song "Down There by the Train" is loosely based on an old negro spiritual, "When The Train Comes Along." Versions of this earlier song were recorded by Henry "Ragtime Texas" Thomas and by Uncle Dave Macon. The lyrics below are from Uncle Dave Macon's recording in Richmond, IN on August 14, 1934. Macon provided the vocals and banjo, with Kirk McGee also on banjo and Sam McGee backing up on guitar.

WHEN THE TRAIN COMES ALONG

Some comes walkin' and some comes lameGonna meet you at the station when the train comes alongSome comes walkin' in my Jesus' nameGonna meet you at the station when the train comes along

Chorus:Oh, when the train comes alongOh, when the train comes alongOh lord, I'll meet you at the stationWhen the train comes along

Sins of years are washed awayGonna meet you at the station when the train comes alongDarkest hour is changed to dayGonna meet you at the station when the train comes along

Chorus

Doubts and fears are borne alongGonna meet you at the station when the train comes alongSorrow changes into songGonna meet you at the station when the train comes along

Chorus

Ease and wealth become as drossGonna meet you at the station when the train comes alongAll my boast is in the crossGonna meet you at the station when the train comes along

Chorus

Selfishness is lost in loveGonna meet you at the station when the train comes alongAll my treasures are aboveGonna meet you at the station when the train comes along

Comments

I agree, 50 Miles of elbow Room by F.W McGhee is a ripping piece of gospel music. It is based on the description of the new Jerusalem as seen by Jesus' disciple John in the vision recorded in Revelation 21:9ff. The Bible supplies the overall dimensions of the four-square city, but the gates being 100 miles wide is pure poetic license on the songwriter's part! The 'abundant entrance' spoken of is a reference to the King James version of the Bible's translation of 2 Peter 1:11, which in more contemporary English reads, 'there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.' The song takes these Bible references and uses them to express the hope of all who have confessed their sin and asked for the forgiveness that Jesus died to win for them, that he has prepared a place for them in his eternal kingdom.

While researching for a biography on Evangelist Maria Woodworth-Etter (1844-1924) I discovered that one of her favorite gospel songs was "Fifty Miles of Elbow Room." Now I see that it is popular on certain web sites. I just learned yesterday that Marv and Rindy Ross(Quarterflash fame of the 1980s) have recorded it with their The Trail Band out of Portland, OR (on Immigrant Dreams CD). My biography on Sister Etter is "Maria Woodworth-Etter, For Such a Time as This" and published by Bridge-Logos.

Fifty Miles of Elbow Room was also recorded by Turk Murphy in his 50's LP "Turk Murphy at the Round Table"; he does it in a Dixie jazz version, quite upbeat. The lyrics are very different from those above, however.